By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (Worthy News) – Azerbaijan on Monday in the Netherlands urged the top United Nations court to throw out a case filed by Armenia linked to the long-running dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Lawyers argued that judges do not have jurisdiction over the trial.
Monday’s procedures began amid a legal dispute linked to the long-standing tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan that escalated into a 2020 war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region that left more than 6,600 people dead.
The enclave is within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994.
Armenia filed a case at the International Court of Justice at The Hague in 2021, accusing Azerbaijan of a “state-sponsored policy of Armenian hatred.”
The country claimed that hatred has led to “systemic discrimination, mass killings, torture and other abuse.”
Armenia’s case is based on an international convention stamping out racial discrimination. That agreement has a clause allowing disputes to be resolved by the World Court if bilateral negotiations fail to broker a settlement.
However, Azerbaijan urged the top United Nations court to dismiss the case on Monday.
NEGOTIATIONS URGED
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov told judges Monday that Armenia could not bring the dispute to the court in The Hague, as the two countries had not first engaged in serious negotiations.
“Azerbaijan considers its objections in this case imperative for the proper administration of international justice. Armenia’s application misuses…and tries to escape its obligation of a settlement of its dispute with Azerbaijan by way of negotiation before invoking the court’s jurisdiction,” he said.
He added that Armenia was, in his words, “firmly set on commencing these proceedings before the court and using the effect of these proceedings to wage a public media campaign against Azerbaijan.”
However, Armenia has vehemently denied wrongdoing.
It recalls that Azerbaijan waged a lightning military campaign in Nagorno-Karabakh last year that resulted in the vast majority of the region’s 120,000 mainly Christian Armenians fleeing their homes.
In December, the two sides agreed to begin negotiations on a peace treaty.
Armenia’s prime minister said last month that the Caucasus nation needs to define its border with Azerbaijan quickly to avoid a new round of hostilities.
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